a The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, October 26, 2009 - 7A v The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 26, 2009 - 7A A compilation with teeth By SASHA RESENDE DailyArts Writer The fact that a love story about an abstinent teenager and a sexy vampire is a hit with both teen- age girls and their middle- Various aged mothers is hardly notewor- Arists thy. The more The Twilight fascinating Saga: development is New Moan thatsuch ataleis Soundtrack being framed by Soptrac some of today's ChopShop/Atlantic most prolific independent and alternative con- temporary musicians. The much talked-about "Twilight" saga, whose second film installment "New Moon" will be released in November, is pegged to an equally talked-about soundtrack that was released four days ahead of sched- ule because of popular demand. "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, the woman to blame for the current cultural obsession with all things vampiric, recently revealed her favorite albums of 2009, a list dotted with indie- pop gems by groups like Ani- mal Collective and Grizzly Bear. The soundtrack to "New Moon" traces a similar vein, boasting a homogenous blend of gloomy soundscapes by some big name artists like The Killers, Muse and, of course, Grizzly Bear. By mov- ing away from the pop-punk and teen-goth influences heard on the series's preceding film, the "New Moon" official soundtrack moves into music-snob territory and will likely introduce a new genera- tion of pseudo-literary pop-punk enthusiasts to the world of pre- tentious indie rock. Every song on the album is an original piece created exclusive- ly for the "Twilight" franchise, helping to create a more uniform atmosphere than if the tracks had been recorded independent- ly. While a few of the selections sound somewhat out of place, the combined effect is a feeling of underdeveloped gloom - ulti- mately, the emotions of unrequit- ed teenage love. high-profile collaborations is a dual Opening track and official sin- hymn titled "Roslyn" gle "Meet Me On The Equi- featuring sing- nox" is arousing er St. Vincent jam by and folk king kings Bon Iver, of teen' culminating heart- inalow-key break duet high- Death lighted by Cab For simple Cutie. The strum- songdoesn't ming. stray far Ann from the Arbor band's tradi-native tional format Anya of combin-c -ic ing accessible e OOC&o Mari- rhythms with na's acoustic ballad emotion-packed "Satellite Heart" is equally impres- lyrics, and it wouldn't sive, contrasting the singer's quiet seem out of place on your stan- vocals with uncomplicated strings dard Death Cab album. Thank- and creating a straightforward but fully, the band's primary lyrical nonetheless alluringsong. territory has always resided close Despite these impressive cuts, to matters of the heart, so the' the album as a whole is not a start- band is able to casually reference to-finish success. The remix ver- the film's plot with vague lyrics sion of Muse's "I Belong To You" like "Let me give my love to you sounds wholly out of place; it has / Let me take your hand / and as more in common with pseudo-goth we walk in the dimming light / Oh rockers My Chemical Romance darling understand." than the rest of the record's more downcast alternative picks. Sea Wolf's "The Violent Hour," 'Tw ilight' gets an unusually uplifting anthem, sounds similarly incongruous and relevant, disrupts the flow of the album. While it's entirely understandable that the film's producers required One of the more publicized a variety of sounds to encapsu- tracks on the soundtrack is an late the entire realm of human (or offering by Thom Yorke,the singer in this case, vampiric) emotion, and primary songwriter of Radio- many of their picks are a down- head, a band that has undoubted- grade from the record's more ly influenced the majority of the succinct contributions and they other bands heard on this album. create a bit of an unbalance. Unsurprisingly, Yorke's contri- When "Twilight" groupies final- bution "Hearing Damage" - a ly see the series's much-anticipated dark, electro-synth soundwave second film feature next month, dominated by a consistent drum they will be greeted with a movie machine-generated beat - is the touched by every hue of the somber best song on the soundtrack. indie-rock spectrum. Whether this Grizzly Bear's contribution, track list does anything to change which features vocals by Beach the tide of tween musical sensibili- House's Victoria Legrand, is ties remains to be seen. In the inter- another triumph. Legrand's im, auditory aficionados should be haunting voice is the star of the pleased that what will likely be one song, at times overtaking the of the highest grossing movies of band's instrumentation. 2009 also features one of the year's One of the soundtrack's more more engaging soundtracks. Voyeurism never looked so fun. Love in 'Paris' takes a focused look at the city and its people By TIMOTHY RABB DailyArts Writer In Paris, a city rich in culture and romance, Pierre (Romain Duris, "Exils") struggles with the pos- sibility of death and expectantly awaits a replace- ment for his ail- At the ing heart. Each Michigan night he gazes IFC wistfully at the apartment across the street, yearning for the affec- tions of the beautiful woman in the window. The woman entertains the romantic advances of two men, one ofwhomisher professor andthestar of a lucrative historical documen- tary. Pierre's sister Elise (Juliette Binoche, "Dan in Real Life") tends to her brother's ailments while also striking up a sexual relationship with a local fruit vendor after his friend (and co-worker) is killed in a tragic accident. All of these people and their collective experiences form the emotional infras a city that lives the same vein as The presenta plagued with a f lems, the most its ineptness in acters equallywi time frame. Exa of fewer charact those of Pierre,l history professt easily solved this ing up valuable s The storylin struggles of ani from Cameroon upon him so bri existence in the quential. Juxtaj exploration wit out scenes de moments in the ie's more promir whole composit feels off-balance It would be to ignore the be of the city of Pa lush cinemato transitions ands movie exudes.' artistry, while it is superseded b3 cal point made i ly, the marked di thecityi^ tructure of Paris, the objective and the subjective and breathes in realities of human beings. For its inhabitants. example, though Pierre's suffer- tion of "Paris" is ing is the most profound experi- ew notable prob- ence in his own recent life, his T prominent being trials are viewed as routine and developing char- insubstantial through his peers' ithin its two-hour lens of objectivity. imining the lives Thischaracteristicofthehuman ers - specifically condition is the reason for our his sister and the selfishness, and its only solution or - could have is a deeper connection with those s problem by free- other than ourselves. And even I creen time. those who have labeled "Paris" as e explores the a light-hearted_ travelogue can't illegal immigrant deny that it's downright gorgeous , but it touches (though they have most certainly efly that his very underestimated its potential). plot is inconse- The basic yet beautiful essence posing this brief of"Paris" is its analysis of individ- h long, drawn- ual experience from the perspec- lineating trivial tives of both those experiencing - lives of the mov- and those watching. After all, the nent subjects, the catharsis felt in the tragedy of :ion of the film loss or the joy of victory is rarely and out of focus. viewed in the same light by those foolish, however, watching the competition as it is 'autiful depiction by the competitors. ris offered by the "Paris" sets out to illustrate our graphy, smooth misconceived notions about our skillful acting the fellow man, and it proves its point This triumph in effectively. If only it had bothered npressive in scale, to explore its most relevant charac- y the philosophi- ters further, we may have felt their n the film: name- joys and sorrows with the same fference between breadth of emotion as they did. Catching up with the'90s By SHARON JACOBS Daily Arts Writer If the '90s were asked to imag- ine autumn 2009 in the form of a hip-hop album, the result would undoubtedly be Anti-Pop Con- Anj-ft. sortium's Fluo- rescent Black. Consortium This time-warp Fluorescent quality is most Black evident in the Big Dada video for the group's single "Volcano." Grainy and simple in style, it finds the foursome wearing huge shades and rapping' with a spandex-clad dancer, set against a PowerPoint- style gradient background. The song itself has an in-your-face quality as the Consortium's blunt lyrics jump out from between bursts of synthesized sound. As on all of Fluorescent Black, the music * behind the rapping in "Volcano" is minimalist and robotic, recalling the futuristic ethos we saw back in the time of the Y2K scare. Anti-Pop Consortium's flair for the experimental mostly mani- fests itself in the group's tenden- cy toward "glitch," a subgenre of electronica that strips it to its bare essentials - unidentifiable computer sounds. This concept is exemplified in "New Jack Exter- minator," where electronic beeps provide just enough structure for the Consortium's typically evocative and forceful lines. Some songs use electric guitar, "Born Electric" starts with a piano solo straight out of an '80s power bal- lad and "Timpani" is anchored by WANNA BE A HIP REPORTER? JOIN DAILY FINE ARTS. its titular instrument. But ulti- mately, Fluorescent Black is a cel- ebration of technology and the crazy noises it makes. Despite requiring more listens than the average radio- or mall- friendly hit, Consortium's music is not quite "anti-pop." It's like- able and sometimes even catchy, try as it might to be otherwise (and Consortium certainly does try to sidestep popularity - just listen to the off-the-wall metal guitar The gr es and Fluores exceed Consor from t to wh often f at hear Ra list fol Miami In tium c the sas as LM bare-b' one car they're predec fun. Bi more ii riff that opens the album). tual than its "hipster rap" bud- oup reigns in the odd nois- dies, especially when it comes to experimental tangents on lyrics. cent Black, and no song The stream-of-consciousness s five minutes. Anti-Pop lyrics are the focal point of Anti- tium manages to stay away Pop Consortium's music. The he cringe-inducing excess foursome met at a poetry slam, ich experimental groups and it shows in their clear under- all prey; one wouldn't balk standing of the sheer power of ring "Volcano" on a play- phonetics. Lines often jump between vague references that verge on totally incomprehensible ("Came through the door / A lega- p turns dark, cy of Moors / Hidden symbolisms and blindfolded in the cores"), but the nusical and mere percussion in the words cap- tivates and grips. Anti-Pop Con- original. sortium uses the vocal track as its main instrument rather than a final flourish - something all rap would be wise to do. lowing LMFAO's "I'm In Surprisingly, Anti-Pop Consor- Trick." tium has more in common with fact, Anti-Pop Consor- post-rock outfits than with other ould be said to fall under rap groups. Consortium abstains me "hipster rap" umbrella from overproduction in favor FAO. Both groups have a of minimalist vamping, and the ones electrified style, and stripped-down result is darker n never be certain whether and somehow more musical than honoring their old-school that of their contemporaries. essors or just poking ironic Anti-Pop Consortium goes for a ut Anti-Pop Consortium is futuristic vibe - maybe it's time ntense and more intellec- for the present to take note. 1 For an application, e-mail battlebots@umich.edu.